SINGAPORE: A young local Reddit user who is alarmed and concerned over his parent’s financial situation took to the platform to crowdsource for help, asking how he can help his parents face reality.
In a post on r/askSingapore on Sunday (Oct 13), he explained his parents are in their 60s, have some unwise spending habits, and he is concerned because he feels that they “are blissfully unaware of their financial situation.”
“They still live in the past, thinking S$3K is a great salary, refusing to admit that the cost of living has risen dramatically. My dad recently claimed that CDC/GST vouchers can last us for months.
I told him a few hundred could barely last one month for one person, but he refused to believe,” the son explained.
The post author’s father is also in denial over their financial situation, believing that his son’s school fees are heavily subsidized because the government is generous “and not because we are poor.”
While he considered telling his parents that they’re now in the bottom 20 per cent when it comes to household income and that the median income is already at S$5,000, he doesn’t “have the heart to scold/shame them like that.”
However, he does want his parents to “wake up from their delusion and work towards their retirement.”
The son added that he doesn’t expect his parents to get jobs that would pay better. He just wants to convince them how necessary it is for them to spend less and save more.
When asked about the future, when they’re no longer able to work, his parents simply say that the government and God will take care of them.
Many commenters on the post reassured the post author, telling him the situation may not be as bad as he thinks as long as the parents don’t have expensive habits or vices.
Others encourage the post-author to help his parents out financially as soon as he starts working after university.
One tried to explain that while it may not be wise for the parents to spend so much, it’s also important for his parents to have a healthy social life and that they are happy.
The commenter added that jeopardising their relationship would not be good by “hammering home that they are at the bottom 20 per cent.” /TISG